One type of conventional boring or drilling machine is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,709,276, 5,253,721, and 5,231,899. These patents disclose a horizontal directional drilling machine pivotally mounted on a tracked vehicle or tractor. An anchor bar extends outwardly from the frame of the tractor and supports anchoring stakes. The anchoring stakes are driven into the support surface in an attempt to stabilize the drilling machine in place during drilling operations.
A drilling machine of the type described above may also include a directional drill bit which is "steerable" and which is mounted on the end of a flexible drill stem. Such a drill is often used for drilling holes, for instance, for installing flexible fiber-optic cable underground, for laying electric cable underground, or similar applications. The fact that the drill is steerable permits a user of the drill to drill under roadways, driveways, sidewalks, and similar, without disturbing the surface thereof. With the conventional drilling machine described above, drilling operations usually are initiated at an angle of approximately 15 degrees. However, once the drill bit is underground, it can be steered to drill a long passageway and then withdrawn when the work is completed. This field of technology is known as directional drilling.
Although the horizontal directional drilling machines discussed above disclose the use of anchoring stakes as the preferred type of anchoring assembly, many different types of anchoring assembly are commonly known For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,668 discloses a stabilizer foot for backhoes or similar construction equipment which have a plurality of ground engaging faces for use in stabilizing according to differing ground surfaces. The stabilizer foot includes a detachable pad which may be pivotally attached to the stabilizer arm and retained in selected different orientations, with each orientation providing a ground engaging face. One of the ground engaging faces has cleats thereon for digging into the ground and another ground engaging face has resilient projections for resiliently engaging a pavement surface to stabilize, but not dig into or damage the surface.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,976,306 and 4,039,206 both disclose attachments for ground-engaging pads of stabilizer arms of material-handling apparatus, one attachment being for engaging rough terrain via penetrating into the ground and the other attachment being for engaging smooth terrain via a rubber surface for gripping, but not being embedded in the ground, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,828 discloses a stabilizer pad for attachment to an arm of a piece of earthmoving equipment such as a backhoe. The stabilizer pad has three surfaces. A first surface has cleats thereon for being embedded in a hard terrain. A second surface has a resilient pad thereon for engaging the ground to prevent slippage, but which does not become embedded. A third surface has a flange thereon for becoming embedded in a soft soil.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,239 discloses a stabilizer pad assembly or foot construction for outriggers or stabilizer arms. The stabilizer pad assembly or foot construction includes a housing which supports a reversible stabilizer pad having a smooth surface for engaging the ground to prevent slippage thereon and having an H-shaped cleat for embedding in the ground surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,450 discloses an apparatus for picking up and laying down drill pipe casing or similar. The apparatus includes an assembly with a transverse member or blade having a plurality of projection for digging into the ground to prevent the apparatus from tipping under load.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,245 discloses a reversible stabilizer pad for use with stabilizer arms of vehicles such as earth moving equipment or other construction vehicles. The stabilizer pad is coupled to the stabilizer arm so as to be pivotable about an axis of rotation. The stabilizer pad has a plate with first and second faces adapted to provide optimal areas of contact with the ground, the first face adapted for contacting soft earth or gravel and the second face adapted for contacting asphalt, concrete, or other hard surfaces. The stabilizer pad is rotatable about the pivot in order to be able to contact the ground with either the first or second face towards the ground. In this way, the apparatus prevents the pivotally mounted, two-way stabilizer pad from reversing its orientation under its own weight.
Another conventional anchoring assembly has a main body portion which includes a stake-down plate. The stake-down plate is a rectangular metal plate, wherein the front and rear long edges thereof have been bent upwardly to make the stake-down plate have an elongated U-shape in cross-section from front to rear. The stake-down plate has top and bottom smooth surfaces, wherein metal stabilizers are welded to the top surface of the stake-down plate to give it rigidity.
The anchoring assembly also includes stakes which can be screwed in or hydraulically driven into the ground or other support surface on which the anchoring assembly is positioned. The stakes help anchor the anchoring assembly to the support surface in order to resist sliding of the drilling machine during drilling operations.
Before drilling operations begin, the anchoring assembly is positioned on the ground or other support surface, and the stakes of the stake-down system of the anchoring assembly are either screwed-in or hydraulically driven into the ground to anchor the anchoring assembly. The stakes may be screwed-in or driven into the support surface so as to be vertical or at an angle to horizontal.
However, even with the stakes of the stake-down system of the anchoring assembly in place in the ground or other support surface, the advancing of the drill bit tends to create a force applied to the drill stem which urges movement of the tracked vehicle drilling machine with respect to the anchoring assembly. Furthermore, when withdrawing the drill bit, there is also a tendency to urge movement of the tracked vehicle drilling machine with respect to the anchoring assembly.
In some drilling applications, it is not possible or desirable to drive the stakes into the ground. The earth may be frozen or there may be electrical cable or similar directly beneath the intended staking location. In these types of situations, the tendency of the drilling machine to slide is particularly troublesome.
While a variety of anchoring devices for drilling equipment exist, substantial problems are associated with such devices. There is a need for significant improvement in anchoring devices for such equipment.